Judge Largely Refuses to Intervene in Dispute Between ILWU and Port of Portland

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon rejected the bid of ICTSI and the Port of Portland to intervene in what the International Longshore and Warehouse Union called the "micromanagement of waterfront operations," during a hearing July 19 in Portland, Ore. Simon rejected three of the four motions in federal court, saying that claims of low productivity don’t violate the court order, and that there was no proof of intentional efforts to violate the TRO, the ILWU said.

“Today’s decisions validate the ILWU’s view that longshoremen are being unfairly blamed for carriers leaving the Port of Portland in recent weeks, when the real offender is Philippines-based ICTSI,” said Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman.

Simon denied the Pacific Maritime Association’s request to formalize an arbitration, saying he didn’t want to interject the court into the union’s arbitration process and the grievance machinery had not been exhausted. He denied the PMA’s request for a TRO, and denied a contempt of court request from the National Labor Relations Board. He did grant a preliminary injunction against the union, which ILWU said was no surprise because such a ruling is standard pending the outcome of the NLRB cases.